Stories

Out of all 365 days in the year, the 4th of July is the best day for my greatest passion… the lake! I hope you are spending quality time with your family and friends this holiday weekend and even better are at the lake on the water!

I would love to share with you guys a story from a lake place in Montana I grew up visiting. I know I talk a lot about the real estate side of things but this holiday is so near and dear to my heart I have to post something!

So it was 4th of July weekend and I was about 10 years old and my family was up at the lake in Montana. My family loves to have a good time so we spent about $1,000 on fireworks (back then that was a lot) and there was this one particular firework called “The Destroyer” and we saved it for last. We launched fireworks off the dock for a solid hour. Everything from bottle rockets, to roman candles, to artillery shells, we had a ton of fireworks!

My cousin’s were all older than I was and they were at the age where any time you could do it “bigger” “faster” “harder” they were going to do it. So my oldest cousin has the bright idea that he’s going to launch “The Destroyer” off of a pvc pipe and not on the dock, but from up higher at the cabin. Keep in mind, this is July and it was a pretty warm day so at the cabin we had the windows open to keep cool, nothing out of the ordinary. My cousin lights “The Destroyer” but right before it takes off, the launch pad (pvc pipe) FELL OVER.

This massive explosive is aiming right for the cabin, windows open and all, and all hell broke loose in a matter of seconds. From the time the launch pad fell to all of us yelling to get down and take cover. Surely, I thought this was it. This was the end and we were all going down in fiery glory on America’s birthday. I look up and “The Destroyer” was laying on the ground, aimed right at the house, and still unexploded. We all sort of looked at each other like, “Did we really just get that lucky?” and “Should we go pick it up?”. We waited for about 5 minutes, not moving and laughing/crying over the bullet we just dodged, then my uncle very, very carefully used two brooms to bring it down to the water and drown the almighty “Destroyer”.

We were upset we spent the money for this extravagant show we never saw, but in all honesty, the adrenaline rush and emotions that came from the whole situation was a priceless memory none of us will ever forget. In fact with the digital world we live in now, every 4th of July we remind each other of the extra life we somehow gained that day.

So to sum it all up, enjoy these holiday’s and time spent with family and friends. Make some memories and BE SAFE! Enjoy everyone! Until next time.